# What happens in Touching the Void? Canonical: https://zestasy.com/wiki/touching-the-void/ Section: Zestasy Wiki > Books & ideas · Updated: 2026-10-13 · Publisher: Zestasy *Zestasy Wiki: our reference answers. Checked for facts and sources; less curated than the magazine.* In 1985 Joe Simpson and Simon Yates climbed the West Face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. On the way down Simpson broke his leg, Yates began lowering him down the mountain on ropes, and when Simpson went over a cliff and Yates was being dragged towards the edge himself, Yates cut the rope. Simpson fell into a crevasse, survived, and spent three days crawling back to base camp. Touching the Void (1988) is Simpson's account of it. Touching the Void is one of those books whose plot everybody seems to know, and which still grips from the first page. Joe Simpson published it with Jonathan Cape in 1988. It won the Boardman Tasker Prize for mountain literature and the NCR Book Award in 1989, and Kevin Macdonald's 2003 documentary-drama brought it to a far wider audience. ## The setting Siula Grande is a 6,344-metre peak in the Cordillera Huayhuash, a remote range in the Peruvian Andes. In 1985 two climbers from Britain, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, set out to climb its West Face. They reached the top. The trouble, as so often in mountaineering, came on the way down. ## What happens The descent by the North Ridge went badly almost at once. A cornice gave way under Yates and only the rope held him. Then Simpson fell from an ice cliff and broke his right leg, a terrible injury so high and so far from help. Yates did not leave him. He began lowering Simpson down the mountain, using two ropes tied together, in a long, painstaking sequence. Then, as the weather turned into a fierce storm, Simpson went over a cliff edge and ended up hanging in mid-air, unable to climb back up. Yates, above, could neither see nor hear him, and his own position was giving way: he was being pulled slowly towards the edge. So he cut the rope. Simpson fell into a crevasse. Yates, believing his friend was dead, made his way down alone. But Simpson had survived, landing on a ledge inside the crevasse. He got himself out and then, with a shattered leg and almost no food or water, crawled roughly eight kilometres back towards base camp over three days. That is the outline. The book is about how it felt. ## The choice at its centre The cut rope is the moment everybody remembers, and back in Britain some climbers criticised Yates for it. Simpson wrote the book partly to answer what he saw as unfair criticism, and his account makes clear what the situation actually was: two men on one rope, one hanging out of sight, the other sliding towards the drop. Simpson has sided with Yates ever since, and most readers finish the book understanding why. That is what makes the book so much more than an adventure story. It is about trust, judgement under unbearable pressure, loyalty and guilt, and it treats Yates with deep fairness. ## The book versus the film The 2003 film mixes interviews with the real Simpson and Yates and dramatised reconstructions shot in the mountains. It won the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film at the BAFTAs and is gripping in its own right. The book does what the film cannot: it stays inside Simpson's head through the long, lonely crawl, with his thoughts, his bargains with himself and the delirium of exhaustion. If you only see the film, you get the shape. Read the book for the experience. For the general question of which to do first, see [book before film](https://zestasy.com/wiki/book-before-film/). ## FAQ ### Is Touching the Void a true story? Yes. It is Simpson's own account of what happened to him and Yates on Siula Grande in 1985. ### Do you need to know about climbing to follow it? No. Simpson explains the essentials as he goes, and the human drama carries everything. A little climbing knowledge just makes it more frightening. ### Did Simpson and Yates stay friends? The book treats Yates with clear respect, and both men took part in the 2003 film. The rope is not a story of betrayal but of two people in an impossible situation. ### Is it suitable for teenagers? For older teenagers, yes. It is intense and describes injury and suffering vividly, but it is not gratuitous, and it is a superb introduction to adventure non-fiction. ## Sources - [Wikipedia: Touching the Void (book)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touching_the_Void_(book)) - [Wikipedia: Touching the Void (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touching_the_Void_(film)) ## Related - [What is Endurance by Alfred Lansing about?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/endurance-shackleton/) - [What is Into Thin Air about, and is it worth reading?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/into-thin-air/) - [How do you go from indoor climbing to climbing outdoors?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/first-climb-outdoors/) - [Should you read the book before watching the film?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/book-before-film/) - [What is the difference between confidence and courage?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/confidence-vs-courage/) - [All Books & ideas answers in the Wiki](https://zestasy.com/wiki/#books)